


On Deaf Ears

by Gardian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Deaf Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Langst, M/M, Mute Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 10:51:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15095189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gardian/pseuds/Gardian
Summary: Keith has spent his whole life in silence, he has accepted the fact that he will always be alone and he is fine with it and being deaf. But then Lance comes into his life and suddenly Keith wants to hear, he wants to hear Lance... but what if he never gets that chance? Will he be able to survive it? Will Lance?





	On Deaf Ears

For his whole life Keith has been deaf.  
Growing up the other kids would avoid him, either unsure of how to communicate with him or scared away by his cool exterior.  
By the time he went to middle school he had given up on people all together, becoming isolated surrounded by an aura of anger.  
Keith was fine with how his life was. It was all he had ever known.  
It was also all he could ever think about.   
He would try to focus of class and ignore the crushing loneliness for as long as possible but he always found himself staring out of the window losing himself in the silence that consumed his very being.  
No one bothered with him.   
Not even the teachers tried to see what was going around that head of his as long as he continued to produce results.  
It hurt…  
Maybe that was why Keith found himself on the roof after school?  
Maybe he couldn’t take the silence anymore.  
Couldn’t stand another day surrounded in darkness that was crushing his soul down into the dust.  
Or maybe he just wanted to watch the stars for a while…  
To pretend everything was fine until he decided if he really wanted to take the step over the edge or not.  
Suddenly someone poked him in the shoulder and he looked up to see something written on a chalkboard.  
‘Hey! Are you ok?’  
The day Keith met Lance, the darkness was destroyed by his light.  
The moment he read those words Keith knew his silent life would never be the same.  
While most people got scared off after a few failed attempts at making conversation, Lance seemed to take it as a challenge.  
He learnt sign language, carried a whiteboard around with him, even mouthed his words slowly so that Keith could figure out what he was saying.  
By time they reached high school Keith had gotten used to the unstoppable light that was Lance.

The day Keith got the email saying there was an operation that would let him hear was probably the happiest day of his life.  
Finally he would be able to hear Lance.  
Hear him laugh.  
Hear him talk.  
Hear him sing.  
Finally get to hear the guy that made his life worth living.  
Keith was away all summer.   
The operation itself only took a few hours, it was the getting used to a whole new kind of world that kept him away so long. Keith had to learn what sounds were and to train himself to interpret them.   
This ranged from the sound of cars approaching to his own voice.  
It was jarring to finally found out what he sounded like, it was something that was so familiar to those around him, yet alien to Keith.   
It took a few weeks of speech coaching before he could talk normally.  
Then a further week waiting to be discharged from hospital, finally able to go home.   
By the time he arrived back barely anyone but a small few could tell he had been deaf most his life.  
Of course he was thrilled to hear his brother finally talk to him, but Keith had one very special person he needed to talk to.  
Keith had barely been home and hour when he ran out of the door not slowing down until he was panting outside of Lance’s home.  
He couldn’t wait to hear Lance's voice!

“Sorry dude, Lance is... sick right now and can’t talk.” Hunk had explained in his wonderfully gentle voice having almost sent the shorter boy flying when he had walked into him on the porch.  
Keith pushed past Hunk into the house not even stopping long enough to apologize.  
He didn't stop until he was outside Lance’s bedroom and kicking the door open, causing Lance to jump in surprise from where he was lying in bed looking much too pale and small surrounded by the bright blue duvet.  
“I’m gonna hear your voice no matter what! So I’m going to make sure you get better even if I have to nurse you back to health myself!”

Lance didn’t look at Keith as he got him soup and checked his temperature.  
He seemed so hollow and defeated nothing like the Lance Keith had gotten to know over the years.  
The thermometer beeped and he pulled it from the other boys mouth with a frown.  
“No temperature again...”  
It had been almost a week and it would seem Lance was perfectly healthy. All except for his voice and his spirit.It was like someone switched off Lance’s light. That was all the evidence Keith needed for something being wrong.  
However he never realised just how wrong until he overheard Hunk when he was coming back from the store bag filled with medicine.

“You have to tell him!” Hunk sounded angry before he sighed “how much do you think it will hurt him to find out that you’ll never speak again?”  
“What?”  
Lance and Hunk jumped as Keith threw open the door.  
“Keith I...” Hunk tried as Lance looked down.  
“What did he mean you won’t talk again!” Keith yelled as he grabbed Lance by the collar.  
“ANSWER ME!”  
Hunk placed a hand on his shoulder “he can’t...”  
A look of horror crossed Keith’s face as silent tears began to fall down Lance’s cheeks.  
“While you were away... Lance got sick like really sick. He had a tumour growing on his vocal cords, it was lose them or we would of died.”  
Keith shook his head dropping Lance as he backed away like he could escape from the terrible truth.   
“No...NO YOU'RE LYING!”   
Lance looked away wrapping trembling arms around himself.  
He opened his mouth and for a brief wonderful moment Keith thought he was going to answer him.  
However he simply closed his mouth again, shaking his head as even more tears fell from his eyes.  
Lance looked so small and fragile.  
His light flickering so terrifyingly close to being snuffed out. It was then that Keith realised how much Lance needed him.And how selfish he was to get angry at him for something like this.  
Keith surged forwards and wrapped his arms around Lance cradling him close.  
“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry.”  
Keith didn’t even realise he was crying until hot tears hit his hand.  
He may never get to hear his best friend speak but he would never let that light go out.  
Now Keith had a chance to repay all those years of kindness and support.  
Now Keith could be Lance’s light.

 

As the years passed Lance had high and low moments.  
Going from someone so loud and filled with music to being completely silent was devastating for him.  
There would be days where he could do nothing but stare at the faded scar across his neck and long for the sound of his own voice again.  
For any sound at all.  
Then there would be days where Keith could talk enough for the both of them, filling in the silence with mindless chatter about just about anything. It warmed Lance’s heart to see his best friend so happy.  
He only wished that he didn’t have the really bad days.  
The days where he just couldn’t move from bed because it felt like some giant crushing force was holding him down.  
The days where he would stare at himself in the mirror for so long that he no longer recognised the man in front of him anymore.  
The days where Keith would get a call in the middle of the night and have to rush to hospital.  
The days where Lance woke up with tubes down his throat and a sobbing Keith begging him never to try and kill himself again.  
The days that happened far too often.  
However as Lance got older those days became less and less.  
Keith made them less and less.  
He began to notice when Lance began to dim and needed him more than ever. Whenever that happened Keith would drop everything so that he could fill the void Lance’s voice left behind.  
It was because of Keith that Lance was able to stand up and retrieve his diploma.  
It was because of Keith that Lance was able to finish high school and sit there as Hunk got up on stage for his speech.  
It was because of Keith that Lance got to live his life again.  
“As valedictorian I could give you a long winded speech about how hard we all worked and how far we have to go. But now isn’t the time for speeches now is the time to celebrate and be thankful for the time we spent together. I don’t think anyone understood this more than Lance.” Hunk stopped talking as a video flickered on behind him projected from the back of the crowd.  
No one was really sure what they were expecting when a video of Lance began to play.  
It was a few years old and clearly being filmed on someone’s cell phone without his knowledge.  
People began to mutter in confusion.  
Then the music began.

“Rise towards the horizon  
Rise up and show your worth  
We are strong and united  
We are not decided at birth  
Our futures yet to be decided  
Our pasts do not define us  
So now we shall rise up  
Towards our time to come.”

A shocked silence flowed over the crowds as the beautiful melody crossed over them.  
Only few of them had ever heard Lance speak let alone sing.  
Keith wanted to look at Lance to see if he was ok, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away.  
It was the most wonderful sound he had ever heard.  
Even if he lost his hearing again today Keith wouldn’t care, because finally he got to hear his best friend’s voice.  
Finally he got to hear his brothers light.

**Author's Note:**

> Also on my Tumblr Langsty-mc-langstface  
> Please comment


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